


Figuring Things Out For Yourself

by notfreyja, Straight_Outta_Hobbiton



Series: Doubt The Stars [4]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But its not heavy, Gen, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, In fact its barely mentioned, Kid Fic, Or in your face, orions you know?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-28 07:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7631509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notfreyja/pseuds/notfreyja, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Straight_Outta_Hobbiton/pseuds/Straight_Outta_Hobbiton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Orion slave ship has what you'd expect— namely, slaves. But Gaila's a little bit different than most slaves. She has Jimmy Kirk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The playlist for this can be found [here.](https://8tracks.com/starhobbit/figuring-things-out-for-yourself#smart_id=dj:16203706)
> 
> Follow [not-freyja](https://not-freyja.tumblr.com) and [straight-outta-hobbiton](https://straight-outta-hobbiton.tumblr.com) on Tumblr.

Jimmy is twelve when they meet the Orion ship. Nobody wants to tell him anything, because— well, because he’s young. Jimmy gets that, but just because he’s twelve doesn’t mean he’s an idiot. He knows it was a slave ship they found. He knows what Orions do to slaves.

Sometimes, people forget how easy it is to get into Starfleet databases.

It takes a bit of doing— Jimmy’s gotten a little bit bigger since he last tried this— but he manages to pick his way through the spider web of wires between the walls easily enough, climbing three stories (having started a story lower than his own quarters to avoid suspicion) with the clever use of the central cooling system and atmospheric control pipes to aid in his advance. He makes it to his preferred Medbay escape route (the ventilation shaft is more than wide enough to let him slip through, though he’s never used it to get in before) and listens until there’s only the quiet whir of life support machines left to hear. Then carefully, carefully, he unscrews his entrance and crawls inside.

Success. Besides the patients (of which there are a few), Jim is alone, which means his escape route is still safe.

Grinning to himself, he reaches out to grab the nearest PADD off the front of the biobed.

“You don’t look like a doctor.”

Jimmy stiffens at the strange, cheerful voice. He looks up from the PADD to see the patient to whom it belonged wide awake.

Also, very small.

“... Hi.”

She is very thin, long-limbed in a way that speaks to sudden growth spurts. There’s a bruise over her left eye, disappearing into the fiery red of her close-cropped hair. She watches him with big, liquid eyes, an easy smile crinkling them at the corners.

“Did they take you from your owners, too?” she asks, tilting her head to one side.

Jimmy blinks.

“No, I live here with my Mother,” he says. “The Federation doesn’t believe in slavery.”

“No?” the girl blinks, genuine puzzlement clear. “Then how does one find their husband?”

“... I don’t know, I’m only twelve,” Jimmy says, frowning. “It just… sorta happens, I guess.”

“That seems… weird.”

“Slavery’s weird,” Jimmy retorts. “Barely anybody does it anymore, except for Romulans, and they’re crazy.”

“Romulans?”

“Don’t worry about it. Hey, what’s your name? Also, can you walk?” he asks, glancing at the PADD again. “You look pretty beat up.”

“It’s because I was too young for the market,” she explains with a smile. “So I don’t tempt anyone too old. I’m called Gaila.”

“Gaila is pretty,” Jimmy says, setting the PADD down. “If you’re strong enough, I can break you out of here.”

Gaila pushes down her blankets and throws her legs over the edge of the bed. She’s wearing a hospital gown, the kind that opens up in the back.

“Are we escaping the ship?” she asks.

“Of course not! But Medbay sucks, so let’s go to my room. We can watch holos or play chess or something until dinner— they probably won’t notice you’re gone ‘til then.”

“Oh— alright.”

Jimmy smiles brightly.

“C’mon— through here.”

There’s a short drop that makes Gaila squeak, but other than that, their escape goes off without a hitch. They end up in the hall just outside of the Kirk Quarters, Jimmy rapidly screwing the panel back into place while Gaila watches.

“Kirk.”

Jimmy starts, looking up into the cool, dark eyes of Number One.

“Um...”

“You have staged an elaborate escape,” she remarks. “How long did it take?”

“Err… if you count the time we spent talking? Forty minutes. I started from the floor below, and we had to go slow ‘cause Gaila’s ribs are messed up.”

Number One nods.

“Clever.”

“I need something for her to wear,” Jimmy says, nodding to Gaila. “Mommy’s dresses are too big, though, so I was thinking she could wear a long shirt or something? But the stuff Sam left behind is all too short for that.”

“So what it your plan?”

“Well, Captain Pike’s really tall…” Jimmy trails off, frowning. “But I haven’t managed to override the code to his quarters yet.”

“Still?”

“I’m almost there.”

Number One stares.

“I will get you what you need,” she says. “But you must work harder, Kirk.”

“I’ll get it done, Number One, promise!”

She nods, then turns to Gaila.

“What is your favorite color?”

Gaila blinks, surprised at the sudden attention.

“Uh, green?” she says.

“Chris doesn’t have too much green,” Number One says. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Could I get one of his green shirts too?” Jimmy asks hopefully.

“Perhaps.” She glances at Gaila. “Go to your quarters, Kirk. I will bring you what you need.”

  
*.*

  
Thirty minutes laters, Jimmy has his arms full of green fabric.

“Thanks, Number One!”

“Cut off the sleeves before she wears them,” she orders. “She shall not wear his rank.”

“Well, duh.” Jimmy drops the shirts on the bed and hugs Number One around the middle. “Thank you.”

Number One pats his head hesitantly, though not without her usual grace.

“I will keep Doctor Fonseca occupied,” she tells him. “Have fun.”

“We will.” Jimmy let’s go and turns to Gaila.

“So,” he starts as Number One slips out. “Your options are three-quarter sleeve, regular sleeve, or no sleeve.”

  
*.*

  
“Fonseca to Bridge.”

Chris hits the comm.

“Pike here.”

“One of my patients is missing.”

Pike’s mouth pinches.

“Which one?”

“The kid.”

“Goddammit.” Pike gets to his feet. “I’ll be right down.”

“Find Kirk, too,” a different, but no less familiar voices chimes in from Medbay’s end.

“Winona?”

“Jimmy.” Fonseca sounds amused. “He’s the only one that’s managed to get out of a locked Medbay before.”

Pike freezes.

“Pull up the security feeds,” he orders. “I’ve got a feeling I know how she got out.”

  
*.*

  
“Wart wants to be… a squire?”

“Yeah.” Jimmy crunches on his lollipop absently. The movie he chose for her was The Sword in the Stone— a fun movie, even with all its morality lessons. “It’s like… well, they serve knights, who are like normal soldiers, but better because they work directly for the king, and in return for their services they get trained to be knights too.”

“And he is a ward of Kay’s father.”

“Yeah. His parents are dead.”

“Parents?”

“You know— a mother and a father.”

Gaila gazes blankly at the blond. “I don’t understand.”

Jimmy blinks.

“Well, I don’t have a Father— my Daddy died when I was born,” he says. “But a Mother…” Jimmy trails off. “Mothers give bedtimes and make you brush your teeth in the morning. My Mommy’s pretty fun, even if she makes me eat vegetable and stuff— she lets me play in the engine room and helps me sneak onto the bridge so she can see Pike’s face when he realizes I’m there. She hangs my blueprints on the wall when I come up with a good design, she tells me stories about when she was a kid on Earth, and she gets really happy when I learn to do something new.”

Gaila thinks about that for a moment.

“I don’t think I have a Mother,” she tells him after a moment.

“That’s okay,” Jimmy says. “Sam went away to college— there’s an opening.”

  
*.*

  
Jimmy’s not in the engine room. He’s not in the rec room. He’s not in the cafeteria. He’s not on the bridge. Pike thinks it might be opposite day when he catches himself being pissed at Jimmy for not being on the bridge.

“Where the hell did that kid take her?” he hisses to Winona. “She’s sick— underfed, bruised ribs, trauma we can’t even begin to understand—”

“Hell, Chris, I don’t know why you’re so worried,” Winona says. “He’s not gonna hurt her.”

“He helped her crawl into the wall,” Chris points out. “You know it’s basically a jungle gym in there! She can’t move like she’d need to—”

“If that’s the case, then they’re still stuck inside the walls and we can find ‘em easy,” Winona says. “And if she was in real trouble, Jimmy would have got Syruk or somebody right now. Syruk?”

The Vulcan dips his head.

“Jimmy has not contacted me for any reason in the last six hours,” he says. “Though he mentioned that he was going to spend some time in his bedroom.”

Everyone goes quiet.

“Jimmy never spends time in his room if he can help it,” Chris says.

“Sure he does— when he’s binge watching.” Winona grins. “Did you forget to check his bedroom, Chris?”

“How could I forget to check a place he’s never in?” Pike sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Winona?”

“Yeah.”

“I never should have let you bring that baby on board.”

“No, probably not.”

  
*.*

  
Winona’s the one that keys in the code to her quarters, but it’s Pike that walks in first. It’s Pike that marches into Jimmy’s room spitting mad, ready to tear the kid a new one.

It’s Pike that deflates the moment the door slides open.

The girl and Jimmy are sitting on the floor of his room, surrounded by pillows. There’s a holo on, something with 2D animation that makes Chris’s eyes hurt. The girl’s wearing—

“That’s my shirt,” he realizes. They butchered it.

Jimmy looks up and grins like he’s done nothing wrong.

“She likes green,” he explains. “And she’s not allowed to wear rank, so we cut the sleeves off.”

Oh. Well, if that’s all they did… No, Pike still feels violated. Jimmy Kirk was probably in his room.

He needs to change the codes. Immediately.

“Jimmy, you know how we’re always telling you to stay put when you’re in Medbay?” Chris asks carefully. “Because you need to get better and that’s best done in Medbay?”

“Yeah.”

“The Orion girl—”

“Gaila.”

Pike pauses.

“You got her name?” He sounds surprised. “You speak enough Orion to get her name?”

Jimmy blinks.

“Gaila speaks Standard,” he says slowly, like he might be worried that Chris is actually stupid. “Don’t you, Gaila?”

The girl— Gaila— nods, but doesn’t speak.

Pike suppresses a sigh.

“We’ll get to that later,” he decides. “The point is, Gaila is really hurt. She needs to go back to Medbay and heal.”

“No she doesn’t,” Jimmy says. “I never do. Mommy never does.”

“Well,” Pike smiles slightly. “You Kirks are a special case.”

“Exactly!” Jimmy reaches out to take Gaila’s hand, tugging her towards Winona. “Gaila, this is Mommy— just like we practiced, alright?”

Gaila nods and steps forward, arms raised to wrap around Winona’s waist. Winona stays perfectly still.

“Jimmy says you’re my Mother now,” she tells the blonde solemnly. “Hello, Mommy.”

Winona stares at the little green girl, then looks up at her son.

“Really?” she asks flatly.

Jimmy shrugs.

“She’s my sister now,” he says. “We decided.”

Winona sighs. The last time Jimmy decided something about someone, it was about marriage. She’s not sure if he’s given up on that dream just yet.

It’s better to let his decision stand.

She pats Gaila’s head carefully.

“Well, you know, Jimmy,” she says conversationally. “You were supposed to be a girl. We had a name picked out and everything.”

“Oh? Is that why I have the most unimaginative name in all creation?”

“Yep! We wanted a girl.” Winona’s lips curve into a smirk, “And while you’re about halfway there—”

“Hey!”

“Having a real girl around here might do me some good.”

“Winona, you’re not serious.”

Winona shrugs. Gaila still hasn’t let go. “Why not?”

“So, you see, Captain Pike,” Jimmy says cheerfully. “Gaila’s my sister, which means she’s a Kirk. Kirks are special cases.”

Pike looks at Jimmy, then Winona, then Gaila, then back to Jimmy.

God-fucking-dammit.

He doesn’t think he will survive another one.


	2. Chapter 2

Gaila doesn’t talk to anyone who’s not a Kirk. That’s made pretty clear within the first week or so of unhelpful Doctor’s appointments, attempted counseling, and debriefings. It’s Jimmy who ends up giving them the whole story, down to every last sordid detail.

 

Pike supposes he should consider himself lucky for not stumbling upon a  _ child _ sex-trafficking ring. But not being a marketable product didn’t keep Gaila safe from her captors, if her bruises are anything to go by.

 

Jimmy says that it was to keep her from being purchased despite her inability to  _ breed _ . He said breed. The word _ breed  _ came from the mouth of a twelve year-old in reference to a humanoid.

 

The older women have even less to say on the matter than Gaila, which Pike expected. Slavery is the Orion way of life, one that the Federation has tried to stop for as long as they’ve been a Federation planet. Pike usually has a pretty solid constitution, but these recent events make his stomach turn, particularly whenever he spies the little girl that has attached herself to Jimmy’s side. She’s still wearing Pike’s shirt, which— now that he’s changed the passcodes— is sort of cute. It reminds him of when Jimmy was still little enough to wear Winona’s classical music shirts as princess dresses.

 

And wasn’t  _ that  _ a beautiful phase.

 

Well, regardless, the slave ship is gone, and now all he has to do is drop the women off at the next medical outpost they can manage.

 

Except for Gaila, of course. Fonseca doesn’t want to separate her from Jimmy quite yet— at least, not until they can get her to talk to someone else.

 

Someone that isn’t a _ Kirk. _

 

Fonseca thinks her behavior is a coping mechanism. Pike would be inclined to believe her if Jimmy hadn’t gotten ahold of the little Orion.

  
  


*.*

  
  


Gaila’s hair gets long enough to tangle in about three weeks. Apparently, Orion hair and nails grow substantially faster than the average Human’s, which is sort of nice, considering how well it hides the scars that creep up the back of her neck.

 

Winona helps her brush it out every morning before her shift, while Jimmy’s still asleep. It takes a while for Gaila to stop flinching when she moves too fast, but eventually, these moments in front of the bathroom mirror become the calmest part of her day.

  
  


*.*

  
  


“Jimmy, where is Gaila?”

 

Jimmy glances up from his PADD.

 

“Up there,” he says, jerking his head up towards one of the support beams.

 

Syruk nods.

 

“And, have you informed her of the instability of that particular frame?” he inquires.

 

“Nope.” Jimmy’s lips pop. “She told me to stop telling her things are dangerous. She says she wants to figure it out for herself.”

 

“That seems… unwise.”

 

Jimmy shrugs.

 

“Apparently we have different opinions on what’s dangerous,” he says. “I can’t convince her to come up on the bridge with me, because she thinks Pike’ll get mad.”

 

“He would be displeased.”

 

“I didn’t say ‘displeased,’ did I? I said mad.” Jimmy makes a face. “She thinks Pike’ll beat her up if he catches her doing something she shouldn’t.”

 

“... The Captain would never harm a child.”

 

“I know that— but she’s afraid of grownups— except for Mommy, anyway.” Jimmy sighs. “To her, it’s the grownups that are scary, not falling and breaking an arm.”

 

Both arms, if Syruk recalls that particular morning correctly. But that isn’t the point.

 

“So she is affected by her time as a slave.”

 

Jimmy snorts.

 

“‘Course she is, Sa-kuk,” he says. “Except she thinks it’s _ normal _ to be so scared all the time. That’s why she doesn’t get why Doc keeps asking her questions. Even if she did get it, she’d just be scared she’s giving the wrong answers.”

 

Syruk nods thoughtfully.

 

“She does well with your Mother,” he remarks.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“It was you who introduced them,” the Vulcan points out. “Perhaps you could stage a similar situation with other adults in the crew. The Captain, for instance.”

 

“The first time Gaila met the Captain he was angry with me,” Jimmy says. “I don’t think it’ll work like it did with Mommy.”

 

But he’s thinking about it. Syruk can tell by the way he’s worrying the split in his lip— a gift from Gaila, Jimmy’s newest playmate on the sparring mats.

 

Jimmy will have a plan by the end of the day.

 

That is satisfactory.

  
  


*.*

  
  


“C’mon— we’re gonna sit someplace else today.”

 

Gaila blinks as she’s led by the hand to their new destination.

 

“Where?”

 

“With Captain Pike,” comes the reply. Jimmy grins. “He hasn’t seen my face in a while— it’s fun when he thinks I’m up to something.”

 

Gaila feels her stomach bottom out. Blood drains from her face.

 

“We should leave the Captain alone, Jimmy,” she says. “We don’t want to anger him.”

 

Jimmy rolls his eyes.

 

“The Captain’s awesome, Gaila,” he says. “You just have to talk to him.”

 

Gaila’s not so sure, but she lets Jimmy lead her over to the Captain’s table anyway.

 

“Hey, Captain Pike,” Jimmy greets cheerfully, taking the seat across from the man and pulling Gaila into the seat behind him.

 

Pike’s eyes are suspicious, but his tone is genial.

 

“Jimmy, Gaila, what are you guys doing here?”

 

“Nothing. Well— I’m trying to convince Gaila to try marshmallows, but besides that, we have a pretty uneventful hour planned.”

 

Pike’s lip quirks.

 

“A whole hour of quiet?” he says. “You sure?”

 

Jimmy grins.

 

“Well, unless we get lucky, we’ve got an hour before the end of lunch and then back to engineering.” He pauses, a proud smile playing across his round face. “Gaila’s amazing in the engine room! Mommy’s been helping her and everything.”

 

“Really?” Pike asks, surprised, turning to Gaila. She nods— she  _ nods _ — before she can stop herself, ducking her head low between her shoulders.

 

Jimmy gives him a look, something like surprised excitement and  _ go on, try again _ .

 

So he does.

 

“Winona must think the world of you,” he says thoughtfully. “I don’t think even Jimmy got any lessons from her.”

 

Gaila doesn’t look up this time, but her ears flush a deep, dark green.

 

“I didn’t,” Jimmy tells her. “Which means you’re the favorite kid.”

 

“Jimmy, Winona loves all her children equally,” Pike informs him. “You were just too much of a spaz at three for her to deal with.”

 

Jimmy pushes out his bottom lip in an exaggerated pout, which Pike ignores.

 

“Have you two eaten yet?”

 

“No.”

 

Pike sighs.

 

“Stay,” he orders, getting to his feet and heading to the replicator. To his surprise, when he returns five minutes later, the kids are still there, Gaila hiding a giggle as Jimmy tries to form a word in Orion.

 

“Hard ‘t’ on the end, Kirk,” Pike informs him, setting down to trays on the table before sitting down. “What’s coming out of your mouth is not a word you should know at your age.”

 

Jimmy’s eyes go wide.

 

“Really? What am I saying?”

 

“I’m not telling. You’ll find a way to slip it into conversation.” He jabs his fork in Gaila’s direction. “Don’t you go telling him, either. Appreciate the finer things in life and watch him struggle with it.”

 

Gaila stares for a moment, eyes wide, then relaxes, nodding again before focusing on the tray he’d dropped in front of her.

 

He got two responses in ten minutes. That’s more than Fonseca’s gotten in the last three months.

 

“Captain, you know I don’t like carrots!”

 

Chris rolls his eyes.

 

“Eat them,” he orders. “They’re good for you.” He glances at Gaila. “You, too. Carrots are good for your eyes.”

 

“And they make you turn orange,” Jimmy snarks.

 

“Only if you eat too many.” Pike stabs at his chicken caesar salad absently. “Eat your vegetables and stop complaining, the both of you.”

 

“Or what?”

 

“Or I’ll tell your Mother.”

 

Jimmy opens his mouth to answer, but Gaila’s hand on his elbow stops him. He subsides and starts to eat, pointedly avoiding the carrots on his plate.

 

Chris still catches the grateful little looks, though.

  
  


*.*

  
  


Gaila follows Chris around, sometimes, when Jimmy’s wrapped up in a particularly annoying science project or a making moon eyes at Spock over a Vidcall. She’s quiet, unobtrusive, and occasionally helpful when it comes to carrying things or helping find Jimmy before his latest potentially-ship-exploding scheme comes to fruition.

 

Gaila’s a good girl. Even with Jimmy as her main source of Terran culture and behavior, she’s alright. A little mischievous, on occasion, but alright.

 

She still wears his green command shirt. Despite a steady stream of other, more suitable clothes, it appears to be her favorite.

 

Pike’s still missing two of those shirts. He’s certain it’s Kirk’s fault.

 

Today, she’s appeared early in the morning, knocking on the door to his quarters and waiting until he actually gives permission to enter.

 

“Good morning, Captain.”

 

He smiles, the same way he does every time she speaks to him. However screwy Jimmy’s plan was (a complicated mess of regular dinners with Pike and occasionally Fonseca mixed in with pranks and cues and Lord only knows what else), it got Gaila to talk more— at least, to talk to him.

 

It’s a victory. A step closer to what a twelve-year old girl of a social species ought to be.

 

“Morning, Gaila. Did Jimmy stay up late again talking to Spock?”

 

Gaila nods solemnly.

 

“Spock is nice,” she tells him. “Jimmy loves him.”

 

Chris arches an eyebrow.

 

“You think?”

 

“I  _ know _ .” Gaila pauses. “Jimmy doesn’t know it yet, though.”

 

Yeah, that sounds about right. If it’s actually true. Jimmy’s an affectionate kid, even by Orion standards, and doesn’t exactly have a lot of friends.

 

“Spock’s bothered by my friendliness with Jim,” she continues. “Jimmy says it’s just unusual to kiss your friends.”

 

Chris pauses.

 

“You’ve…. kissed Jimmy?”

 

Gaila nods.

 

“I’ve noticed Terrans don’t kiss as often as Orions,” she admits. “But I thought it was just preference.”

 

And Jimmy probably isn’t bothered by it, or else he would have explained.

 

“Kissing is usually reserved for… significant others,” he says after a moment. “Or intimate friends. Family, too, but there are different kinds of kissing for each.”

 

“Oh.” Gaila looks up. “Will you show me.”

 

_ “No. _ ” Chris is not prepared for this conversation. “If Jimmy’s okay with you kissing him, you can ask him to show you.”

 

Oh, God, he just advised a twelve-year old to make out with an arguably less mature twelve-year old. How is this his life?

 

“Okay.” Gaila pauses. “Jimmy only fell asleep an hour ago. I don’t have anything to do until he wakes up.”

 

“Well, I’m due on the bridge in about twenty minutes,” he says, checking his watch. Gaila visibly slumps.

 

“Oh.”

 

Pike sighs.

 

“Have you had breakfast yet?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Did you brush your hair?”

 

“Mommy did.”

 

“Did you brush your teeth?”

 

Silence. Chris sighs.

 

“Go brush your teeth,” he says, pointing her towards the bathroom. “Morning breath is nasty.”

 

Gaila sighs but obeys, because she is a good, normal child as opposed to the Kirk hellspawn that’s adopted her.

 

Pike pulls on his uniform shirt— one of the gold ones, because all of his comfortable green ones have gone  _ missing _ , goddammit— and sighs to himself, because the next thing he’s going to do is gonna leave him catching shit for  _ weeks _ , he just knows it.

 

Gaila comes back out, pulling absently at the waistband of the leggings she’s taken to wearing under her— his— shirt.

 

“You’re spending the day with me today, Gaila,” he tells her as he pulls on his boots. “Go get your PADD— it’s probably going to be a little boring on the bridge.”

 

Gaila goes very still.

 

“But— Jimmy says kids aren’t allowed on the bridge.”

 

“No, kids are fine if they have permission. It’s  _ Jimmy _ that’s not allowed on the bridge.” Chris offers her a small smile. “Go grab your PADD. I’ll meet you in the turbolift in ten.”

 

Gaila stares for a moment longer, wide-eyed with shock, before snapping to and bolting out the door.

 

When he gets to the turbolift five minutes later, she’s already there, practically vibrating with excitement.

 

She’s probably going to be disappointed.

  
  


*.*

  
  


Three, four, five, hours in, and Gaila hasn’t moved from her place perched on Pike’s lap. She colors quietly on her PADD, occasionally looking up at the viewscreen when something interesting happens.

 

“Captain Pike?” she inquires, sometime after a lunch in the chair. “How do you spell Christopher?”

 

Pike blinks.

 

“Why?”

 

Gaila shrugs.

 

“Jimmy says I should practice my letters,” she explains. “He’s teaching me to write.”

 

Chris blinks. He wasn’t aware she was illiterate— trust Jimmy to keep a fact like that to himself.

 

Well, at least the kid’s trying to fix it.

 

“C-H-R-I-S-T-O-P-H-E-R,” Chris spells out. “And my last name is P-I-K-E.”

 

He watches Gaila write out the letters with painstaking slowness. Her letters are shaky, and she writes the ‘s’ backwards, but overall, she does well, adding it to the list of other names she’s learned how to spell.

 

James Tiberius Kirk. Winona Marie Kirk. Spock— just Spock. Chris figures the Vulcan surname would be too hard for a beginner.

 

“This is good,” he tells her quietly. “With a little bit more practice—”

 

He’s interrupted by the sound of a grate flying open and clattering to the floor. Gaila jumps, dropping her PADD to grab onto Pike’s collar.

 

A familiar blond head appears from the darkness.

 

“This is blatant favoritism!” Jimmy complains as he crawls out of the air shaft. “You picked a  _ favorite! _ ”

 

Pike sighs as Gaila slides off his lap to collect her PADD. To the crew’s credit, they barely acknowledge Jimmy’s tantrum.

 

“Captain, this isn’t fair!”

 

That shit that he knew he was going to catch for letting Gaila on the bridge? It’s here.

  
  


*.*

  
  


“Jimmy, what’s a Father?”

 

Jimmy sighs. Gaila’s questions are always complicated.

 

“Fathers are like Mothers, sort of,” he starts. “They feed you, and they make you get ready in the mornings, and they teach you things. They give you clothes and a place to sleep and they’re always there to help. Of course, that’s just theory. I don’t have a Father.”

 

Gaila thinks about that for a moment.

 

“I think Captain Pike’s my Father,” she decides, making Jimmy choke on his drink. “What?”

 

He wipes his mouth, grinning.

 

“Nothing, Gaila,” he says. “You should tell Captain Pike that. He’ll be pleased.”

 

Gaila brightens.

 

“Will he?”

 

“Oh yeah— he’ll be a little bit confused, but he’ll be happy.”

 

“I’ll go tell him right now,” she says, getting to her feet. Jimmy catches her by the hand.

 

“Wait a second,” he says. “Let’s finish the holo first—  _ Sleeping Beauty’s _ awesome.”

 

“And  _ then _ I’ll go tell the Captain.”

 

“Well, you should probably practice what you’re going to say first,” Jimmy says. “Like we did with Mommy.”

 

“Oh, yeah, of course!”

  
“This is going to be the  _ best _ .”


	3. Chapter 3

Chris should have expected some bullshit like this. He should have expected it the moment Jimmy decided Gaila was his. He should have expected it the moment she started to talk to him. He should have expected it.  _ He should have expected it _ .

 

Gaila gets onto the bridge— he doesn’t know how, but she does, because Kirk has taken it upon himself to show her all the dark, secret passages inside the walls that even Winona doesn’t know. She gets onto the bridge during a particularly dull point of Alpha shift, right about the time that Pike’s thinking about lunch. Winona’s loitering around his command chair, not so much talking as insulting.

 

“And anyway, Number One has you by the balls, so it’s her I should be asking—” Winona stops. “Gaila, when did you get here?”

 

“Hi, Mommy.” Gaila loops around her and pulls herself into Pike’s lap. Chris, the  _ fool, _ lets her.

 

“Hey, Gaila,” he greets, one arm instinctively wrapping around her waist to keep her in place. “You aren’t supposed to be here, you know.”

 

“I know,” she agrees. “But I realized something very important, and I had to tell you right away.”

 

“Oh? What is it?”

 

“I think I know,” Winona murmurs, almost too quiet for Pike to hear.

 

Gaila wraps her arms around Chris’ neck.

 

“You’re my Daddy,” she says into his shoulder.

 

Chris goes cold. Winona snickers.

 

“What?” he asks. 

 

Gaila sits up.

 

“You’re my Daddy,” she repeats. “Jimmy explained to me what a Father was, and a Father sounds a lot like you. So, you’re my Daddy.”

 

One day, someone will maroon Jimmy Kirk— and it may be today, it may be fifteen years from now— but when that day comes, Chris hopes to be the one to personally hand that Captain a medal.

  
  


*.*

  
  


It becomes a thing among the crew because Chris can’t find it in him to correct her. In the wake of Gaila’s ‘revelation’, Chris stopped being her Captain and instead became her Daddy.

 

It gets to the point that he actually answers to it. He figures he deserves it, for all the times that he’s snickered at Winona for her apparent adoption of the little green girl, and anyway, he could do worse than Gaila as an oops daughter.

 

For example: see Jim Kirk.

 

No, Chris doesn’t mind being a Dad. What he does mind is the crew’s response to his new status.

 

To be fair, the joke’s always floated around the alpha crew. Space Dad Pike is nothing new. But after Gaila’s display— Gaila’s public, perfectly prepared display— the joke spreads to the other shifts. Soon, Pike can’t walk through the mess hall without hearing someone greeting him as—  _ Dad. _

 

No. This must stop.

 

Gaila doesn’t notice anything strange. His apparent acceptance has only made her more likely to be found a step or two behind him at any point in the day that isn’t eaten up by her writing lessons with Jimmy or her allotted Winona time in engineering.

 

He’s being invited to movie night regularly, now, which is equal parts cute and disturbing. Kirk movie night is a sacred rite, after all, and Chris isn’t ready to be a Kirk. Ever.

 

It is heartwarming, though, when an away mission goes wrong and he wakes up in Medbay with a green ball curled up in the little space between his uninjured side and the railing. The feeling is immediately curdled by Fonseca’s voice from across the room.

 

“Space Dad’ll get mad if his Chief of Security can’t be bothered to listen to his doctor and  _ rest _ , goddammit!”

 

Jimmy probably thought he was helping when he helped Gaila figure out how to inform Chris of his apparent Dad-ness, but Chris knows that more of Jimmy was thinking of the hell this was going to unleash on his poor, unsuspecting,  _ blindsided _ Captain.

 

Chris sighs quietly to himself, carding a hand through Gaila’s wild red hair absently.

 

It’ll die down soon. Probably.

 

...Hopefully.

  
  


*.*

  
  


It doesn’t die down so much as Chris learns to ignore it. Everybody’s got their identifier, and apparently, his is Space Dad.

 

Better than Hardass, he supposes.

 

It’s their bi-monthly officer’s poker when Number One brings it up, casual as can be,

 

“Gaila is doing well.”

 

“She is,” Pike agrees, and she is. She even talks to the bridge crew, now, shyly asking about the controls without actually trying to play with them— the exact opposite of Jimmy Kirk.

 

“Well enough to start thinking of placing her somewhere permanently.”

 

Pike goes cold. He isn’t sure why— this day has been coming for months, and he’s been very aware of that fact.

 

“... What do you have in mind?” he asks. Number One tilts her head thoughtfully, pushing her glass within Winona’s reach to fill.

 

“She’s old enough to be entered into a Starfleet gifted program,” she says. “Or she can be placed in one of the boarding schools circling Cerberus— they have excellent programs for students in the foster system.”

 

“She’s not in the foster system.”

 

“Yet. It is inevitable that she will be placed with a family upon her return to a Federation planet.” Number hums. “Likely they will want her returned to Orion—”

 

“Not happening. She’ll just end up in the same shitstorm we found her in.”

 

“... In which case she could be placed on Earth. However, it will be difficult to place her with a family, as she is not Terran and will require a family that can cater to her needs as an interplanetary immigrant.”

 

“A Starfleet family,” Winona supplies helpfully from behind her glass.

 

Number One shakes her head.

 

“A Starfleet officer has neither the money nor the time spent on Earth to be considered suitable in the raising of a child, particularly one with a past such as Gaila’s,” she says. “Perhaps if she were to be adopted, but as a foster child…”

 

Pike blinks.

 

“Well, that’s easy,” he says. “Winona, she already calls you her Mom. You can just adopt her.”

 

“Are you saying that because I’m a woman or are you saying that because of my stellar parenting skills that have served my children so well?” Winona snorts and shakes her head. “No. I’ve got no one to leave her with, and she’s not Jimmy; she won’t do well on a ship.”

 

“She’s done okay so far.”

 

“She’s a social kid, Chris. Keeping her on a starship with only Jimmy for company? With her doing so well? That’s a recipe for teen angst I don’t want to be around for.”

 

And… good point.

 

_ Except… _

 

“What if I take her?” Chris asks. Both women look surprised.

 

“It’d be the same issue, Chris— unless you’re going to go planetside for a little green girl.”

 

Chris shakes his head.

 

“No, I know, but— Krisy could take her.”

 

“Your sister?”

 

“Well, yeah— people do it all the time. I mean, what would have happened to Jimmy and Sam if you hadn’t taken them?”

 

Winona shrugs. “George’s parents, probably. Until they couldn’t handle it anymore or died in the attempt.”

 

“If I adopt Gaila, she can go live with Krisy,” Chris says. “People do that all the time. Krisy’s oldest two just moved out, too— she has the space.”

 

“Doesn’t she have like, six kids?”

 

“And like I said, Johnny and Rose moved out. She has an open room, it’s perfect!”

 

Neither woman says anything for a long moment.

 

“... And this is why you are the Captain, Christopher,” Number One says, slight praise creeping into her usual monotone. “Sometimes I forget you are so ingenuitive.”

 

Chris sits back, pleased with himself.

 

“I’ll start the paperwork in the morning,” he says. “But keep it to yourself? I want to see the look on Krisy’s face when I tell her I have a kid.”

  
  


*.*

  
  


It’s four in the morning when Jimmy’s comm beeps. Bleary-eyed, he prods at the screen until the message pops up.

 

_ Hook, line, and sinker. -Number One _

 

Jimmy grins and sets his comm aside.

 

He loves it when a plan comes together.

  
  


*.*

  
  


“Don’t cry, Gaila— Earth has to be cool. My whole  _ species _ comes from there.”

 

Gaila sniffs.

 

“But, I’m gonna miss you,” she says earnestly. “You’re my best friend. You’re my _ brother _ .”

 

“What, you think that’s going to change because of a couple of lightyears between us? As if. That doesn’t stop me and Spock, why would it stop me and you?” Jimmy hugs her tightly. “It’s gonna be fine, Gaila. I’ve met Krisy and her wife. They’re awesome, and their kids are pretty cool, too. You’ll love it with them. There’s gonna be so many things to do! I’m almost jealous.”

 

“No engineering lessons with Mommy anymore. No more writing practice with you, or movie nights.” Gaila’s lip quivers. “How am I gonna be a Chief Engineer without Mommy’s lessons?”

 

“Hey. You’re middle name’s Kirk, Gaila, I saw the paperwork. You’ll be just fine. We Kirks always get what we want.”  _ Almost _ . “I’ll meet you in the Academy, okay? If nothing else, I’ll find you there.”

 

“You promise?”

 

“I promise.” Jimmy pulls back. “Comm me when you get settled in, okay? I want regular updates.”

 

“That’s what Daddy said.”

 

“Of course he said that, he’s your Dad. And I’m your brother, and Mommy’s your Mom. We’re all expecting updates, and pictures, and report cards—”

 

“Jimmy, I think she gets it.”

 

Winona scoops Gaila up in her arms and gives her a squeeze.

 

“Raise hell, kid,” she says simply. “And don’t take no for an answer.”

 

Gaila sticks out her chin and nods, trying to mimic Winona’s best steely expression.

 

“There’s a girl. Hey, Chris.”

 

“I’m here to escort my daughter, if I’m allowed,” Chris says from the doorway. He smiles at the girl. “You all packed, Gaila?”

 

Gaila hesitates, then nods.

 

“Yes, Daddy.”

 

“Good. Come on, we’ll loop the ship one more time before you go, okay? Just so you don’t forget anything important.”

 

Gaila smiles slightly, then turns to press a wet kiss to Jimmy’s cheek.

 

“Bye, Jimmy.”

 

“See ya around, Gaila.”

 

And then, she takes Chris’ hand.

 

An hour later, she’s left the ship.

  
  


*.*

  
  


“What is wrong, James?”

 

Jimmy huffs a sigh, tilting the screen on its side so he can lay down and still see Spock’s face without getting a headache.

 

“I just forgot what it was like, not having Gaila here,” he says. “Mommy says I’m moping.”

 

“You appear melancholy.”

 

“Yeah.” Jimmy runs a hand through his hair. “Mommy thinks I need some time away. She’s sending me to spend some time with my cousins on some newly colonized planet.”

  
“Oh?” Spock arches an eyebrow. “Which planet?”

**Author's Note:**

> To continue with the main story arc, keep on clicking on the next work button for the "Doubt the Stars" series. If you want to know how Earth treats Gaila, go ahead and read the "Girl Meets World" spin-off!
> 
> The playlist for this can be found [here.](https://8tracks.com/starhobbit/figuring-things-out-for-yourself#smart_id=dj:16203706)
> 
> Follow [not-freyja](https://not-freyja.tumblr.com) and [straight-outta-hobbiton](https://straight-outta-hobbiton.tumblr.com) on Tumblr.


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